Laughter is the medicine prescribed by Dr Phil

IF there is one message Phil Hammond wants his audience to take away from his show Games to Play With Your Doctor, it is that the NHS need "bidet reform" of the NHS.

That is, reform from the bottom up rather than the top down "shower system" currently in place.

"Patients have a key part to play in securing and saving the NHS," he said.

"It’s comedy with a message, which is what I’ve always done, I guess. There’s a danger the NHS may go if we’re not careful and in comparison with other countries and value with money, it does pretty well. What it doesn’t do properly is listen to people.

"What I’ve always encouraged people to do is speak up, whether it’s patients or staff, and I’m very lucky in that I have all these other jobs, so I’m not completely reliant on it, and that enables me to speak truth to power."

These jobs include a weekly radio show in Bristol, his expose-breaking column in Private Eye, but also his continued work as a hospital doctor specialising in children and teenagers with chronic fatigue.

"I like the variety," he explained.

• Dr Phil Hammond: Games to Play With Your Doctor, is at the Empire Theatre, Eden Court, on Sunday 26th January at 7.30pm.